Hey, Looky-Lous! Get your rubbernecks ready.

Cool Things You've Gotta See

Interesting

Fore-edge paintings are a fascinating subset of the literary and artistic worlds. But you may find yourself wondering: <a href="https://thecabinetofcuriosity.net/2016/09/27/the-secret-art-of-victorian-fore-edge-painting/">what are&nbsp;fore-edge paintings</a>? In the late 18th century, many religious texts began to be published with ornate and artistic drawings or covers. Along with this other book art, publishers would occasionally – and painstakingly – color the page edges with ink or paint in order to create a secret&nbsp;picture. Sometimes this painting could not be seen unless the edges of the pages were splayed out slightly, so that many wouldn't even know it was there. While you'll find this throughout the 1800s, 1900s, and even today, it first rose to popularity in the late 1700s in England.&nbsp;While some examples of these paintings are simple, involving flowers, text, or perhaps the shape of an animal, many others are intensely ornate. You might find the author's picture, a scene from the book, or a landscape from where the author or character grew up. Either way, these fore-edge painting books&nbsp;are very sought after, even if most of the titles have faded from memory.&nbsp;Curious to discover more about this hidden world? Luckily for you, this list contains photos of some beautiful fore-edge paintings that are sure to knock your socks off – even if you've never heard of the book. Read on to marvel at some incredible images, and vote up the coolest of them all.

16 Fore-Edge Paintings You'll Love, Even If You Don't Like Books

Book

16 Fore-Edge Paintings You'll Love, Even If You Don't Like the Books

Laura Allan

“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol 

The Art of Art

History

Ever wonder about the identity of the woman posing for the Mona Lisa, or think about the life of the &ldquo;farmers&rdquo; depicted in American Gothic? Check out who the people in these 12 famous paintings actually were.

Artists <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-painters-of-all-time/ranker-art" target="_blank">Leonardo da Vinci</a>, Andrew Wyeth, and Grant Wood get all the acclaim for their <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-paintings-all-time/ranker-art" target="_blank">priceless works of art</a>. But what about the models that inspired those artists? It&rsquo;s rare to ever hear their stories.&nbsp;Perhaps the models were artists, as well? Maybe they were the artist&#39;s secret lover? Or, could it be in some cases that the model is actually the artist doing a disguised self-portrait?

Vote up the most interesting tales of how these models became&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/what-famous-art-actually-looks-like-in-context/melissa-sartore" target="_blank">enduring masterpieces</a>.

Who The People In Famous Paintings Actually Were

Artwork

Ann Casano

Galleries of cool, creative, and stunning artwork tattooed right on human skin.

Amazing Ink

Culture

While the practice of tattoos has been around for centuries, tattoos imitating watercolor painting are relatively new, as well as revolutionary. Watercolor tattoos imitate the brushstrokes, patterns, and style of paintings created in watercolors, in particular the vibrant colors and detail to hue and opacity. Watercolor tattoos have a distinct style, and the tattoos on this list are the most stunning, and will surely give you ideas for watercolor tattoos of your own.Many associate tattoos with black blocks of lines and tribal markings, or cheesy sayings in fancy font, but if you're looking for something a little different, check out the coolest watercolor tattoo designs on the list below. We find these types of tattoos incredibly beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.

Breathtaking Watercolor Tattoos You've Gotta See

General

Best Watercolor Tattoos | List of Watercolor Tattoo Ideas

Jo Swo

Are we all alone in the universe? Probs not.

Close Encounters

Aliens and UFOs are two of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/phoenix-lights-ufo-sighting/patrick-thornton" target="_blank">the most debated</a> and pondered things in human history. Our universe contains two trillion <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/10/18/this-is-how-we-know-there-are-two-trillion-galaxies-in-the-universe/?sh=43ce74835a67" target="_blank">galaxies</a> aside from our own, making it impossible to prove if life exists&nbsp;on another planet in another galaxy.&nbsp;

Who&#39;s to say if aliens visited Earth centuries ago? Is it possible&nbsp;they left messages for us through art? There are endless possibilities, but for now, here&#39;s a list of classical paintings that may (or may not) have UFOs or aliens hidden inside.

Classical Paintings That Appear To Contain Depictions Of UFOs

Liv Pasquarelli

Whoa Facts

&quot;Art&quot; is a subjective phrase. Some people hear it and think of music, beauty, or anything that inspires a burning passion. Others hear it and picture rich, snooty folks sipping rich, snooty wine and eating the richest, snootiest cheeses. Both interpretations can be correct.

Genuine art is an expression of the artist, but once a <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-most-incredible-pieces-of-artwork-ever-made?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">piece of art</a> is out in the world, it takes on a life of its own. You may already be familiar with the&nbsp;Mona Lisa,&nbsp;the&nbsp;Girl with the Pearl Earring, or La&ouml;coon, but each of these masterpieces is surrounded by a wealth of history - and <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-painting-conspiracy-theories/katherine-ripley" target="_blank">sometimes intrigue</a>.

The following fun facts about art may make you see these popular works in a new light. Vote up the ones you just learned today.

Facts We Just Learned About Famous Artworks That Made Us Say 'Really?'

Pierce Nahigyan

Entertainment

Movies inspired by paintings&nbsp;extract the most iconic qualities of their&nbsp;source material and transform them into something more modern and altogether unique. An ancient, towering god&nbsp;becomes a giant robot in Guillermo del Toro&#39;s Pacific Rim. A biblical scene is updated for 1970s New York City bar culture in Martin Scorsese&#39;s&nbsp;Mean Streets.&nbsp;While some directors rely on the style and moods evoked by certain artists, others make movies based on paintings that&nbsp;focus on a specific piece&nbsp;of art to&nbsp;shape everything from set design to costuming to narrative developments.

Whether it&#39;s an animated Disney flick geared toward children, an iconic&nbsp;horror feature&nbsp;that borders on exploitation, or <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-artist-biopics/ranker-film" target="_blank">a biopic about a well-known artist</a>, movies inspired by paintings or other pictorial works are as plentiful and diverse as the world of visual art itself.

13 Movies Inspired By Works Of Art

Film

Megan Summers

The history of optical illusions in art blends intent and expression, sometimes with a healthy dose of trickery and fun. Works of art throughout history reflect the circumstances, perspectives, and outlooks of the&nbsp;individuals who created them. This can be done consciously or unconsciously, incorporating new styles, techniques, and ideas. During the Middle Ages, Romanesque and Gothic art and architecture emphasized spirituality and symbolism, leading to a return to classical styles during the Renaissance.

Optical illusions in Renaissance art emphasize a fascination with physical perspective and individualism, while later 17th and 18th century artistic genres demonstrate experimentation with light, color, realism, and the abstract world. Artists in the 19th and 20th centuries continued to explore conceptual art techniques and mind-bending media.

Optical illusions in art - whether they be&nbsp;macabre, playful, or even mathematical - have a unique way of manipulating the human eye.&nbsp;

Optical Illusions In Famous Works Of Art

Optical Illusions in Famous Works of Art

Melissa Sartore

Weird History

With just about everyone in the world stuck in their homes for the immediate future, any distraction from the news&nbsp;- and the monotony of staying indoors - is a welcome one. While we&#39;re all living that #QuarantineLife, the Getty Museum offered its Twitter followers a <a href="https://twitter.com/GettyMuseum/status/1242845952974544896" target="_blank">delightful, three-part challenge</a>: &quot;Choose your favorite artwork, find three things lying around your house, [and] recreate the artwork with those items.&quot;

These are the most impressive - or just plain hilarious - responses to the challenge.

A Museum Just Challenged Twitter To Re-Create Famous Paintings With Objects From Their Homes

The Getty Museum Challenged Twitter To Recreate Famous Works Of Art At Home

<a href="http://museumofselfies.tumblr.com/page/2" target="_blank">Olivia Muus</a>&nbsp;considers herself to be&nbsp;a curator of interesting art but she is, in fact, an <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/writers-and-artists-who-were-bad-people/cosmicboxer?ref=search" target="_blank">exceedingly interesting artist</a>. After attending the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen&nbsp;and taking a picture with a famous piece, Muus&nbsp;realized that she could add a further dimension to all of her favorite artworks. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/museumofselfies/" target="_blank">She took a picture</a> of her hand holding a selfie camera in front of certain portraits and the results completely altered the characters' expressions.When Muus's&nbsp;technique is used on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-pablo-picasso-paintings/reference?ref=search" target="_blank">Picasso's various distorted figures</a>, for example, the subjects become introspective and a little less mournful. It's like they're hams for the camera instead of bleak representations of Picasso's interior struggles.Olivia Muss's work inspired many other culture-lovers to take their own unique selfies and the results might just make you want to visit the museum yourself.

Museum Selfies Are A Hilarious New Way To Appreciate Art

Lowe Saddler

Classical

As evidenced by M. Night Shyamalan, everyone loves a good twist, and twisted fan art makes for content everyone can get behind. Using classic images as the foundation for their art, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/pezartwork/" target="_blank">French artist Pez</a> reimagines classic images and figures in subtle yet slightly sinister ways. His twists on famous images typically draw the &quot;twist&quot; from the character or image itself. In doing so, Pez's&nbsp;classic image twists simultaneously highlight the icon or figure while also providing subversive hints at a darker side. Pez's&nbsp;own&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/nerd-versions-of-historical-paintings/crystal-brackett" target="_blank">nerd versions of classic art</a>&nbsp;give new personalities to visages like The Scream&nbsp;and the Mona Lisa, allowing their famous faces a chance to wear a different expression.With subjects ranging from famous artwork to today's video games, twisted pictures by Pez feature characters from all realms of pop culture. <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/disturbing-disney-fan-art/brandon-michaels" target="_blank">Creepy Disney art</a>&nbsp;appears alongside reinterpretations of classic paintings, meaning people of all interests will certainly find something of intrigue.&nbsp;

This Artist Reimagines Iconic Art With A Dark Twist

French Artist Pez Reimagines Iconic Art With A Dark Twist

Mick Jacobs

Fascinating and unexpected art made of everything from staircases to shadows.

Art Appreciation

Lifestyle

In late March 2020, the <a href="https://twitter.com/GettyMuseum/status/1242845952974544896" target="_blank">Getty Museum offered this challenge</a> to its Twitter followers: re-create your favorite paintings with only the items in your house. For all the art lovers stuck in their houses during quarantine, the&nbsp;#GettyChallenge was a great way to join the online community and express themselves creatively.

Getty&#39;s Twitter featured <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/getty-painting-challenge/pierce-nahigyan" target="_blank">a ton of delightful re-creations</a>, some humorous, some technically astounding, and some featuring the &quot;artists&#39;&quot; furry companions. There were so many famous painting re-creations with pets, they deserved their own list. Enjoy these paw-sitively appealing responses to the Getty Challenge.

People Are Re-creating Famous Paintings With Their Pets – And It's Adorable

Pets Star In These Famous Painting Recreations

Lists for and about those superfans who can name every member of the Cantina band, do a passable Shyriiwook howl, and dress up with lightsabers and Cinnabon hair to imagine what life would be like a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Geeking Out: Star Wars

You know a property is successful when it spawns fan art. There&#39;s successful, and then there&#39;s Star Wars. So naturally there&#39;s plenty of amazing fan art about the franchise, which is so idolized and beloved that fans are compelled to create artwork with their own spins on the characters and iconography. Sometimes, these spins are really, really funny.

Star Wars is arguably the biggest franchise of all time. It&#39;s redefined multiple generations for decades.&nbsp;That&#39;s decades of artists and creative thinkers loving the mythology and creating their own art about it. Being that there&#39;s a huge, boundless amount of fan art out there, this list focuses on the funniest Star Wars fan art. The stuff that makes you rethink other properties or even shines a new different funny light on a galaxy far far away.

This is a list of the funniest Star Wars fan art, so vote up the pieces that tickle your funny bone!

The Funniest Star Wars Fan Art in the Galaxy

Coy Jandreau

Wondering exactly what—or who—you'll see after you die? Here are some ideas.

Imagining the Afterlife

Pop Culture

Art history is rich with depictions of purgatory. Some are more benign than others, but the majority of such works paint a decidedly unpleasant picture of this stagnant form of afterlife. Classical figures such as Peter Paul Rubens, Gustave Dor&eacute;, and William Blake all create&nbsp;purgatory artwork based on scripture and&nbsp;literature,&nbsp;especially Dante&#39;s Divine Comedy, while more modern artists like Tina Mion and&nbsp;Chalermchai Kositpipat&nbsp;offer unique takes on the subject. While no Earthly beings are sure about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/what-is-heaven-really-like/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">what Heaven is really like,</a>&nbsp;it&#39;s hard not to look in terror upon representations of purgatory in art.&nbsp;

Creepy Depictions Of Purgatory From History

20 Creepy Pieces Of Purgatory Art

Christopher Shultz

Great inspiration can come from anywhere, so it is no surprise that many celebrated&nbsp;movie posters pull inspiration from famous works of art. Here are a few posters that were heavily influenced by&nbsp;great paintings, prints, and photographs usually found in museums. Vote up the posters that best paid homage to these incredible works of art.&nbsp;

20 Movie Posters You Might Not Have Realized Were Inspired By Great Works Of Art

Erin Maxwell

Warning: some of this art contains&nbsp;Avengers: Endgame&nbsp;spoilers

Denver Balbaboco&nbsp;is a portraiture artist located in the&nbsp;Philippines. His proficiency in digital&nbsp;artistry and knowledge of popular culture prompted&nbsp;him&nbsp;to create a portfolio of classic paintings of your favorite fictional characters. From Marvel heroes to Games of Thrones&nbsp;nobility,&nbsp;Balbaboco&nbsp;transports the best of pop culture characters into an era when portrait paintings captured the essence of high society.&nbsp;

While Balbaboco&#39;s art is just as interesting as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/realistic-3d-cartoon-fan-art/nathandavidson" target="_blank">realistic cartoons</a> or&nbsp;Games of Thrones&nbsp;characters as <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/game-of-thrones-noir-fan-art/crystal-brackett" target="_blank">1930s gangsters</a>, he takes it one step further by using vibrant colors and digital effects to liken the tragedy of the Phantom of the Opera to the end of the MCU&#39;s first Avengers&nbsp;series. For more of&nbsp;Balbaboco&#39;s work you can visit his personal website to request commissions or follow him on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/denvertakespics/?hl=en" target="_blank">@denvertakespics</a>.

This Artist Paints Classical Style Portraits Of Your Favorite Fictional Characters

Denver Balbaboco’s Portraits Of Fictional Characters

Bailey Brown

Statues have been put up for centuries to commemorate notable people, historic achievements, and artistic movements. Oftentimes, because these statues are so well-known - like the Statue of Liberty and the Spring Temple Buddha - we can imagine them much differently than they appear in reality. The size is usually either imagined to be exponentially larger or exponentially smaller, so the height of famous statues is generally shocking the first time they&#39;re visited.

Despite being covered extensively in history books, questions like &quot;how tall is the Statue of Liberty?&quot; and &quot;what is the Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro height?&quot; constantly pop up because it&#39;s so difficult to discern the height of famous statues if you haven&#39;t stood before them yourself. But once you know how tall these are, which will still be on your <a href="/crowdranked-list/historical-landmarks-to-see-before-i-die" target="_blank">bucket list</a>?

How Tall Are The World's Most Important Statues?

How Tall Are The World's Most Important Statues

Mallory Weiler

Art lists at Ranker - the ultimate source for top 10, best of, funny, or factual lists of any kind - see how everything ranks

Artwork lists on Ranker

Famous Works of Art Lists: Great Art Throughout History and Today


Sistine Chapel ceiling

The School of Athens

Pietà

Click on any list item to see replica pricing and more information!&nbsp;This is a CrowdRanked List of the most fantastic pieces of art ever made. While art is most definitely subjective, these are pieces that few can argue about and have withstood the test of time and changing cultural tastes. Make your own list and rank the artwork you think is the best, or just make a list to add an item you think is missing.